Bill Bradley

Early life

Politics was a common dinner-table topic; his father was a Republican elector for Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. Bradley became an Eagle Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow. He began playing basketball at age nine and starred at Crystal City High School, scoring 3,068 points, earning All-American honors twice, and being elected to the Missouri Association of Student Councils. He received 75 college scholarship offers but applied to only five schools. His SAT verbal score of 485 would normally have led selective schools like Princeton to reject him, but his basketball ability—aided by his height (5 ft in seventh grade, 6 ft in eighth, reaching 6 ft 5 by age 15) and unusually wide peripheral vision—set him apart. He maintained a rigorous practice schedule, including dribbling with lead slivers in his sneakers and wearing cardboard-taped eyeglass frames to avoid looking at the ball.

Basketball

Bradley was considered the top high school basketball player in the country. He initially chose Duke but, after breaking his foot in a 1961 baseball game and reconsidering, enrolled at Princeton, which did not offer athletic scholarships; his family's wealth disqualified him from financial aid. As a freshman, he averaged over 30 points per game and made 57 consecutive free throws. As a sophomore, he scored 40 points in a loss to St. Joseph's and was named to The Sporting News All-American first team.

The following year, The Sporting News named him its player of the year. At the 1964 Olympic trials, he played guard and was chosen unanimously for the team, the youngest and only undergraduate selected; the team won a gold medal. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1965 NCAA Tournament, where Princeton finished third. After graduating, he attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, delaying an NBA decision for two years.

He played one season of professional basketball in Europe before joining the New York Knicks in 1967–68, after six months in the Air Force Reserve. He spent his entire ten-year NBA career with the Knicks, winning titles in 1970 and 1973.

Politics

Politics was frequently discussed in Bradley's childhood; some relatives held local and county offices. He majored in history at Princeton and was present in the Senate chamber when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. His Rhodes application stated he could best serve mankind as a politician. At Oxford, he focused on European political and economic history.

During his third year with the Knicks, he told Robert Lipsyte he regretted focusing only on school and basketball. In Life on the Run, he wrote that he intended to play only four years before signing a second contract. A New York Times review speculated he might turn to politics. In 1978, Bradley said congressman Mo Udall had told him professional sports could prepare him for politics.

In a speech to Missouri scholar-athletes, he quoted Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, advising them to rebel against being programmed into narrow career alternatives. After four years campaigning for Democratic candidates in New Jersey, he retired from the Knicks in 1977 to run for the U.S. Senate in 1978. Bradley won with about 56% of the vote. During the campaign, Yale football player John Spagnola served as his bodyguard and driver.

After politics

In 1999, Bradley received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2000, he declined the chairmanship of the United States Olympic Committee. In 2002, he turned down a request to replace Robert Torricelli on the ballot for his old Senate seat. Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law in 2003.

In 2007, he received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. In January 2004, Bradley and Al Gore both endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination. In January 2008, Bradley endorsed Barack Obama and campaigned for him. His name was mentioned as a possible replacement for Tom Daschle as nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, but the position went to Kathleen Sebelius.

He has consulted the Senate Finance Committee on tax reform with former colleague Bob Packwood. Since 2001, he has been a managing director of Allen & Company LLC, and served as chief outside advisor to the McKinsey Global Institute from 2001 to 2004. He sits on the boards of QuinStreet, Raydiance, DonorsChoose.org, and the American Committee on East-West Accord, and is a senior advisor to Catterton Partners. He chairs the Advisory Council for Acumen Fund and co-chairs the advisory board of Issue One. He is also on the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.